Lockhart's Story

Lockhart in South-Western NSW has built on its history and its agricultural base to become a dynamic tourist-friendly rural centre.

Lockhart is a small rural community located in the heart of the Riverina region of New South Wales and is situated 535 km south-west of Sydney.  With a population of nearly a thousand, Lockhart is essentially a rural centre for wheat, sheep, cattle and poultry. This picture-postcard town is listed by the National Trust.  Its old world charm lies in its buildings – verandahs, ornate lacework and carefully restored facades. It is known as the ‘Verandah Town’.

Lockhart has a tradition of being energetic and unique in its approach to development of both the township and surrounding area.  The local community has undertaken the restoration of the historic verandahs in partnership with local business and a historical paving project depicting local forefathers in paving stones.  The Greens Gunyah Museum Lockhart displays a unique collection of wool portraits, donated by the local artist Doris Golder.

The innaugural Spirit of the Land Festival was held in October 2007.  The festival celebrations included the Lockhart Picnic Races, major art, sculpture and patchwork exhibitions, combined with golf tournaments, shearing shed tours, heritage and garden trails, winery walkabouts, line dancing and bush dinner and many more activities.

Lockhart community has a strong spirit and a positive determined attitude to overcoming and managing adversity. Like most dry farming regions, Lockhart has experienced devastating drought conditions.  Local farmers, some fourth generation, have combined their inherent skills with the latest technology and have earned the reputation of being among the best in the world. They are constantly improving their efficiency and developing techniques to remain productive during drought conditions.

A partnership established between Lockhart Shire Council, the Lockhart & District Progress Association and the private sector has become a powerful development force in the local area.  A wide range of initiatives have resulted from this partnership to create a vibrant community, including proposed development of an industrial estate, investigations into bio-plastics as a renewable fuel, and the use of bio-diesel on local farms in order to create demand for the crops locally grown.

The partnership has maintained a business development focus, and has continually engaged in initiatives to seek to attract, develop and retain local business.  When faced with declining financial services in the town, the Lockhart and district community took the initiative and formed their own Community Bank Branch of Bendigo Bank funded by local shareholders. The Community Bank celebrated its fifth birthday this year.  This has been a very successful venture already injecting more than $100000 into district projects, and providing five new jobs for the area.  The creation of the bank, and other community initiatives, has ensured that Lockhart has remained a vibrant and sustainable rural community in the face of many challenges.

For further information on the Lockhart Shire area generally please visit www.lockhart.nsw.gov.au

Initial support for development projects undertaken in Lockhart was provided by the Towns and Villages Futures program.

For further information

Contact	:	Max Day, President, Lockhart & District Progress Association
Email	:	lockprogress@bigond.com